New Edge signs on with Cox

Pursuing its new role as broadband aggregator, New Edge Networks sewed up a new access partnership with Cox Business Services, adding the company’s cable modem services to its wholesale broadband access portfolio.

The agreement is the latest in New Edge’s Project BigFoot initiative, designed to create an access footprint capable of providing service to every business address in the U.S. In addition to its own 800-central office symmetric DSL footprint and nationwide frame relay network, New Edge has signed deals with Covad Communications, DSL.net and Verizon Wholesale. But Cox Business Services is the carrier’s first cable partner, allowing the carrier to get some remote or satellite sites through either copper or coax.

New Edge officials have said that BigFoot is an extension of their original business plan, even though the company is gradually shifting from the role of facilities-based CLEC to broadband aggregator. New Edge’s original SDSL network covers Tier III and VI markets across the U.S., making it the perfect fit for franchise business and chain stores. BigFoot takes that model to its logical conclusion, attempting to offer a VPN connection anywhere a business could possibly locate.